Agricultural Innovation in the Era of Carbon Neutrality: Practices of Haifa, Compo Expert, K+S KALI, Biolchim and VAN IPEREN

In the context of the increasingly serious global climate change, the agricultural industry is facing unprecedented challenges but also opportunities. On June 27, 2024, the leading fertilizer companies gathered in Yantai, China, attending an annual conference organized by Newferilizer Association. Representatives from Haifa (Israel), Compo Expert (Germany), K+S KALI (Germany), Biolchim (Italy) and VAN IPEREN (Netherlands) shared their innovative practices focusing on low-carbon, efficient and sustainable development of agriculture. The conference not only showcased the latest dynamics in the agricultural sector in the context of carbon neutrality, but also drew a blueprint for the future development of agriculture.

Prime enterprises leading low-carbon transition via innovative technologies

In light of the serious challenges, major agritech companies showcased their innovations, demonstrating the great potentials of agritech to combat climate change and achieve sustainable development.

• Carbon Capture, Utilization (CCU)

The Israeli Haifa Group presented their Carbon Capture and Utilization (CCU) technology, which not only significantly reduces the company’s carbon footprint, but also creates new economic value. Haifa Group’s CCU technology encompasses four steps: Capture, purification, compression and utilization. Through advanced adsorption technology, the company is able to capture carbon dioxide from the production process, which is purified, compressed and then used for a variety of industry fields.

For example, in the case of greenhouse growing, the captured carbon dioxide is transported to greenhouses and used to improve the efficiency of photosynthesis of crops and increase yield. In food processing, it is used as a refrigerant or for production of carbonated beverages. For industrial use, the captured CO2 is used to produce polymer materials like polycarbonate. More interestingly, the carbon dioxide can be used to cultivate microalgae and produce biofuels or high-value nutrients.

Haifa Group expects to capture and utilize about 70% of CO2 emission by 2025, equivalent to reduction of about 200,000 tons of carbon emission per year. This not only significantly reduces the company’s carbon footprint, but also opens up a new source of income, demonstrating the promising win-win prospect of environmental protection and economic benefit.

• Low-carbon ammonia technology

The German company Compo Expert presented their ″blue ammonia technology″ which can significantly reduce carbon emission in the course of production of ammonia, using natural gas instead of traditional coal as feedstock, also via utilization of large amount of renewable energy sources such as wind and solar energy in the production process. At the same time, the company applies advanced carbon capture technology to capture and store carbon dioxide generated during the production.

A representative of Compo Expert presented a spectacular picture of the company’s first vessel carrying blue ammonia, the Blue River, which marks an important breakthrough in the commercial application of low-carbon ammonia technology. According to report, compared with traditional ammonia production, the blue ammonia technology can reduce carbon emission by more than 80% per ton of ammonia, with roughly a 15% increase in energy efficiency.

What’s even more exciting is that the fertilizer produced using blue ammonia technology not only maintains the original fertilizer efficiency in agricultural applications, but also reduces about 30% carbon footprint of crops in the whole life cycle, attributable to the low-carbon nature of the production process. This is a full proof of the important value of low-carbon technology in the entire agricultural industry chain.

• Magnesium technology of compound fertilizer, nitrogen fertilizer and organic fertilizer

The German K+S KALI Group shared its achievements in development of high-efficiency magnesium fertilizers. The company’s star product, ESTA^® Kieserit, is a natural magnesium sulfate monohydrate, which is of high water solubility, high purity and environmental friendliness. The K+S KALI expert emphasizes that the use of high-efficiency magnesium fertilizers not only increases yield, but also significantly increases the nitrogen fertilizer use efficiency and reduces carbon emission.

From the actual applications, K+S KALI could demonstrate several impressive test results. For example, in the rice trial, the use of magnesium-containing compound fertilizer (20-7-16 + 2% Mg) increases yield by 7.5% compared with the traditional compound fertilizer (24-7-19). In the wheat trial, the use of magnesium-containing ammonium sulfate, instead of urea, resulted in a 20% yield increase. These data fully demonstrate the great potentials of compound fertilizers, nitrogen fertilizers and organic fertilizers when being added with magnesium, which can increase crop yield and reduce the use of chemical fertilizers.

• Innovative biotechnology

With the research and development of biological formulations and production technology, the boundary between biologics and conventional pesticides or fertilizers is being integrated, having created a sort of synergistic effect. At present, biologics shows a development trend similar to that of chemical pesticides, i.e., the ingredient is clear and the function is clear.

The Italian Biolchim showcased their innovation in preparation of biostimulant raw materials, in particular its single-ingredient biostimulant Pinolene^®. Pinolene^® is a terpene polymer extracted from the resin of the southern coniferous hardwood tree, used as an antitranspirant in the United States. It is of unique properties and mechanism of action, after application, it forms a polymer structured-membrane on the skin of plants, which can reduce plant water loss. In some trials in arid area, the use of the product containing Pinolene^® reveals the potential to improve crop’s drought resistance while maintaining yield and quality under water stress conditions. 

In the meantime, this innovative biostimulant demonstrates Biolchim’s efforts to improve the efficiency of pesticide use and reduce environmental impact. Pinolene^® can also be used as a pesticide adjuvant to encapsulate pesticide molecules for a more consistent and uniform distribution and slow release of pesticides. By using the adjuvant Pinolene^®, the effectiveness of pesticides increases, the amount of use of pesticides decreases, thus reducing burden on the environment. In actual applications, the use of the Pinolene^® adjuvant in combination with conventional pesticides can reduce pesticide use by 20-30% for some crops while maintaining or improving the effect of control. 

″Pinolene^® represents an important breakthrough in development of biostimulants, from R&D, preparation to application. Not only does it improve the efficiency of pesticide use, but also provides farmers with a more environment-friendly and sustainable way of crop management. This innovation is a perfect positive response to the initiative of global sustainable development of agriculture. 

• Exploration of cyclic economy model

The Dutch company VAN IPEREN brought its GreenSwitch project to show how the concept of cyclic economy be applied to fertilizer production. The project uses biological wastes to synthesize liquid potassium nitrate, without generation of carbon emission and nitrogen emission throughout the process of production, having really achieved green production.

The key of the GreenSwitch project lies on its innovative production process: Firstly, ammonium ion is extracted from the digestive juice of biogas plant, then converted into nitrate via bioreaction, finally being reacted with potassium salt to form potassium nitrate fertilizer. This process not only significantly reduces greenhouse gas emission, but also reduces the dependence on fossil fuel for fertilizer production, while promoting the recycled use of agricultural wastes.

In actual applications, the GreenSwitch products show excellent effects. In the greenhouse cultivation of tomatoes in the Netherlands, the use of GreenSwitch products could reduce the amount of fertilizer use by 30%, while increasing yield by 5-8%. In a Belgian open-field vegetable planting trial, the GreenSwitch products showed excellent effect of stress resistance and maintained high yield under drought conditions.

″By turning wastes into high-value fertilizers, we are not only solving environmental problems, but are also creating new economic value. This cyclic economy model represents the future direction of the fertilizer industry,″ says the representative from VAN IPEREN.

Policy and market drivers 

The EU’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) is undoubtedly an important external force to drive the low-carbon transition of agriculture. This mechanism will not only affect the production and trading of fertilizers, but will also indirectly affect the global agricultural production pattern. The implementation of CBAM is scheduled to begin in 2026, which will initially cover carbon-intensive products such as cement, electricity, fertilizer, steel and aluminum. For the fertilizer industry, this means that fertilizers imported into the EU will be subject to charge of additional carbon fees, which may lead to major adjustment to the global fertilizer production pattern.

The implementation of the CBAM will have a profound impact on global agriculture, which may drive broader applications of low-carbon agricultural technologies, precision fertilization and organic farming. Meanwhile, it may promote international cooperation and exchanges in respect of agricultural low-carbon technology applications. In view of this challenge, businesses need to be innovative and governments need to be supportive in policymaking to work together to make agriculture more sustainable.

Also on the other side, consumer’s concerns about food safety and sustainability are driving the transformation of agriculture. As a participating expert puts it, ″Today’s consumers don’t just care about what they eat, they care about how food is produced. They want to see not only green agricultural products, but also green production processes.″ This change of thinking of consumers is driving the transformation of the entire agricultural industry chain towards green development.

Future prospect

At the conference, it is noted that the global agricultural sector is positively responding to the challenge of carbon neutrality, having achieved a series of innovative results:

1. Technological innovation is key: From carbon capture to biostimulant, to microbial fertilizers, the application of new technologies makes agricultural low-carbon transition possible.

   
   

2. Resource recycling is a trend: Haifa Group’s reuse of captured CO2, for example, reflects the direction of transition of agriculture towards cyclic economy.

   
   

3. Collaboration in industrial chain is becoming increasingly important: Collaboration in fertilizer production, agricultural planting, joint innovation and in all aspects will enable achievement of the low-carbon transformation of the entire industrial chain.

   
   

4. Policy guidance is indispensable: The introduction of policies such as the EU Green Deal has provided a clear direction and is also a pressure to push forward the low-carbon transformation of agriculture.

   
   

5. Market demand is a driver to innovation: Consumer’s demand for green agricultural products is driving investment in sustainable agriculture.

Looking ahead, the low-carbon transformation of agriculture is still faced by a lot of issues, such as technology promotion, cost control and smallholder’s adaptability. Nevertheless, through the joint efforts of governments, enterprises, research institutions and farmers, it is believed that agriculture will eventually embark on the path of sustainable development to make important contributions to achievement of the global objective of carbon neutrality.